


An Overdeveloped Sense of Vengeance

by gluupor



Series: Andreil Week 2018 [5]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Princess Bride Fusion, Andreil Week 2018, Fantasy, Kidnapping, M/M, Prompt: Soulmate, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-05-31 09:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15116777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gluupor/pseuds/gluupor
Summary: “No one could be following us yet?” Kevin asked suddenly.“No one,” Riko said impatiently. “That would be absolutely inconceivable.” There was a pause. “Out of curiosity, why are you bothering me with such a stupid question?”“Oh, no reason,” answered Kevin. “It’s just that I looked back and someone is there.”





	An Overdeveloped Sense of Vengeance

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure this won't make sense if you haven't seen/read The Princess Bride, but if you haven't seen/read The Princess Bride what are you doing with your life? Prompt: soulmate.

Neil struggled against his bindings. He hadn't been that worried when he'd been kidnapped - frankly, being abducted for likely nefarious reasons was better than his day-to-day life. Everything had been pretty terrible ever since Andrew had been murdered by pirates three years ago and Prince Ichirou had demanded Neil's hand in marriage, so Neil was actually fine with being kidnapped and murdered. At least now he wouldn't have to marry Ichirou.

The kidnapping hadn't been that bad at first: sure he'd been knocked unconscious and it hadn't taken long after he awoke for him to be gagged, but his captors weren't overly rude or violent. The three of them weren't any worse than the people he interacted with daily. The downside was that they hadn't hidden their faces or their names (Kevin, a sword-master who was a little high-strung; Thea, a giant who seemed annoyed with everything; and Riko, the mastermind behind their scheme who was probably a sociopath), which convinced Neil that he'd be dead before long.  He'd made one half-hearted attempt to escape, diving into waters infested with shrieking eels, but it had been short lived.

After that, he'd mostly been compliant as his gag prevented him from using his best weapon. He watched with interest as his captors became more and more unnerved as a man dressed in black drew closer and closer, wondering if someone was coming to rescue him. He couldn't figure out who it could possibly be: nobody from the Prince's retinue would have been able to follow so quickly. The black figure made Neil's skin break out in goosebumps. Neil could tell that he was much more dangerous than the three who had kidnapped him.

Riko pushed a knife against Neil's throat to keep him still as the man in black strode confidently over the hill, clearly having defeated both Kevin and Thea who had been left behind to kill him. He stopped when he saw Neil at Riko's mercy.

"Now," said Riko, "it is down to you and it is down to me."

"So it would seem," replied the man in black, taking a step forwards.

"If you wish him dead, by all means keep moving," Riko said, pushing the knife closer to Neil's neck.

The man in black froze.

"I resent your behaviour," continued Riko. "You are trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen."

"Let him go," the man in black said, inching closer.

"You're killing him!" Riko exclaimed, breaking skin with his knife. Neil swallowed heavily against the familiar feeling of sharpened steel on his skin.

The man in black backed up a couple steps. "This will not go well for you," he said, the threat evident in his tone.

"There is no way forward," said Riko, "I have kidnapped this man under strict instructions and the rewards I will reap for doing so will be far greater than anything you can offer me; we cannot do business together. Either you leave or he dies."

"Has it not occurred to you that I have gone to great effort and expense, as well as personal sacrifice, to reach this point?" asked the man in black. "And that if he stops breathing in the very near future, it is most probable that you will catch the same fatal illness?"

"I do not doubt you can kill me; you have bested both a sword-master and a giant today. Has it occurred to you that if we do what you are suggesting that neither of us get what we want - he will be dead and so will I."

"We are at an impasse then."

"So it would seem," said Riko. "I cannot hope to beat you in a physical altercation, and you are no match for my wits."

"You're that smart?" asked the man in black dryly.

"Prince Ichirou is well known in these parts for his cunning and intelligence," said Riko, "however, beside me he is nothing more than a fool."

"In that case," said the man in black, "I challenge you to a battle of wits."

Riko broke out in a wide grin. "For the Prince's intended?"

The man in black nodded.

"To the death?" Riko cackled excitedly.

The man in black nodded again.

"Very well, I accept."

"Pour the wine," said the man in black.

The man in black sat down across from Riko and pulled a packet out of his clothing.

"This powder is called crackers," he said. "When added to wine it is colourless and tasteless and extremely poisonous. I am going to add it to one of the goblets. The battle ends when we both drink and one of us is the victor and the other is dead."

Riko smirked as the man in black hid both goblets behind his back and added the poison.

"Take your guess."

"Guess?" scoffed Riko. "I do not guess. The puzzle is simple. All I have to deduce is whether you are the type of man to put the poison in his own goblet, or into the goblet of his enemy."

The man in black waited. "Well?" he finally asked. "You're stalling."

"I'm not stalling, I'm relishing our little game. Let's see… only a great fool would reach for what he was given, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you; however, you are aware that I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

"That's your choice, then?"

"No, of course not." Riko reflected for a few seconds. "You have overpowered my giant so you obviously possess great strength and convinced of this strength you would have put the poison into your own goblet, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you also beat my sword-master, indicating that you have studied the art of the sword and in doing so would have become very knowledgeable about mortality and would clearly want the poison as far away from you as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

"You're trying to trick me into giving something away. It won't work."

"It has already worked! I know where the poison is."

"Then pick your goblet."

"I pick the goblet-" Riko broke off, pointing into the distance. "What in the world can that be?"

The man in black turned to look and did not notice Riko switching the placement of the two goblets. Neil watched impassively, waiting for this farce to reach its conclusion.

"I don't see anything," said the man in black.

"Oh, no matter. It must have been a bird. Now to drink! Me from my goblet and you from yours."

Both men drank and Riko dissolved into cruel laughter.

"You chose wrong," stated the man in black.

"You only think I chose wrong!" crowed Riko. "That's what's so funny! I switched goblets when your back was turned!"

He laughed hysterically until the poison took effect and killed him.

"You poisoned your own goblet?" Neil couldn't help ask when the man in black removed his gag.

"They were both poisoned," stated the man in black. "I have a tolerance." He cut Neil's bindings and pulled Neil to his feet.

"You're a pirate," accused Neil, connecting several pieces of evidence.

"Not as stupid as you look, then."

"Your skills mark you as the Dread Pirate Wymack," Neil said, ignoring the insult.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," the pirate replied mockingly, with a short bow.

"It is not," said Neil shortly. "I wish you death, slowly and painfully. I wish you agony and despair."

"That's quite bloodthirsty. What have I done to earn your ire?"

"You killed my… my…" Neil couldn't think of a word that encompassed all that Andrew had been to him. "My soulmate," he eventually settled on.

"Could be," said the man in black without concern. "I kill a lot of people. Prince Ichirou is still alive, however."

"He is," said Neil. "And many say that he is the greatest hunter in the world. He can track a falcon on a cloudy day; he will find you."

"You trust your dearest love to save you?"

"I never said I loved him," said Neil harshly.

"You admit you do not love your fiance? Are you even capable of such feeling? How long did you mourn your so-called soulmate? A day? Maybe two?"

"You don't know me," snarled Neil. "You took everything from me."

"Everything I took was freely given," said the man in black, just as a hunting horn sounded in the distance. He looked towards the sound and Neil saw his chance. The man in black continued speaking distractedly, "I always asked-" Using both hands, Neil shoved as hard as he could, knocking the self-confessed pirate down a steep incline.

"Yes… or… no..." the words drifted up from the bottom of the hill.

Neil's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't heard that phrase in three years, a phrase that Andrew had repeated to him frequently. Without a second thought, he threw himself down the hill after the man he now knew to be Andrew.

When he slid to a stop, Andrew was already crawling over to him, his mask lost in the fall.

"Andrew," said Neil, reaching for him, "yes."

Andrew kissed him, and Neil almost sobbed. He'd been alone for so long.

"I told you I'd come for you," said Andrew when he pulled away. There was a single crease in his brow which Neil smoothed away with his thumb. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Well," said Neil, trying to order his thoughts, "the prince gave me an ultimatum: marry him or suffer. And you were dead."

"I don't know why you thought that would stop me from keeping my promise to you."

"I'll never doubt you again," promised Neil.

"You'll never have a need," said Andrew, and kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, though. Kevin as Inigo Montoya. You have the whole: "Hello. My name is Kevin Day. You killed my mother. Prepare to die." And the fact that he's turned to drink because he's frustrated. And "I am not left-handed" (or right-handed in Kevin's case) completely mirrors him tapping his racquet against the floor and switching hands.
> 
> I can be found on tumblr [@gluupor](http://gluupor.tumblr.com).


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